Go Team Orange!
by Nickelina
Summary: GI Joe's annual Best Joe competition with three opposing teams


_Disclaimer: Characters in this work (GI Joe/ Cobra) are the property of Marvel Comics, Hasbro  
and Devil's Due Publishing, Inc., and are being used without permission. No profit is gained from the use of these characters._

FF100 #12- Orange

**Go Team Orange!**

By Nickelina

**Event one**

The annual 'Best Joe" competition was about to start and the few two-man teams that had signed up were waiting to board the plane that was part of the first event. Flint was double-checking the straps on his partner Shockwave's parachute harness. The two were Team Blue. Mainframe, from Team Red looked to his right and sighed at his last minute replacement partner Beachhead. Beachhead in turn looked at Mainframe and wondered how he was roped into being a contestant instead of a judge. After all, the concept was his idea. Bringing up the rear was Team Yellow. Ripcord walked past Flint and purposely nudged him with his shoulder. Lady Jaye who was Ripcord's partner made her way to the front of the line by walking in-between the members of the other teams. With smug smiles on their faces, they stood at the front of the line with their arms folded across their chests.

"You think you're hot stuff, Lady Jaye?" Flint asked.

"No, Flint." She replied. She looked at Ripcord and smiled.

"We know we are." They said in unison.

Flint sighed; he knew that Team Yellow was no threat to the powerhouse that was Team Blue. Beachhead shook his head. He could not believe that Ripcord and Jaye were already acting goofy. He did not want this contest to become a joke and he was not about to be made a fool of. He turned to Mainframe, who was getting a good laugh off his friends.

"They are your enemy." He said.

The teams boarded the plane and Mainframe took his seat next to Beachhead. Lady Jaye stopped by where he was sitting.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"What's the matter?" He replied. "Beachhead is my partner. The man is a machine! I thought there was going to be an element of fun in this."

"Nah. I'm sure he is just going to push you beyond your limitations that all. Just think of this as a fun session of PT. A game."

Beachhead sat next to Mainframe and leaned over to talk to Lady Jaye.

"This is not a game." He told her sternly.

She was about to respond to him, but the plane began to take off. She fell back slightly and grabbed onto Mainframe's arm. "Fun and games, Blaine. Fun and games."

Duke stood at the near the door of the plane and opened the envelope that contained the instructions for the first event. He had to yell to be heard over the engines.

"Event number one." He said. "Your mission will be a free fall. You must land on the targets that are marked. After the free fall, you must bundle your parachute, then grab a rucksack and move to the next designated event. Your route will marked."

Lady Jaye chimed in just as Duke was finished. "The last team to arrive may be eliminated." She broke into laughter with Ripcord and Mainframe.

Flint looked over at Shockwave and gave him the thumbs up. "This is gonna be a breeze." He said. "At least for us."

The doors opened and the teams prepared to jump. Beachhead and Mainframe were the first to go and they exited the plane without incident. Ripcord and Jaye were next. As they waited to jump, Flint leaned over to Lady Jaye.

"You sure you can do this?" He asked her.

"Flint, there is a reason I picked a HALO jumper as a partner." She told him.

He could not resist getting a rise out of her. "Yeah, but you're a _girl_."

She leapt into her freefall while giving Flint the finger. Ripcord followed suit.

Team Blue was the last to depart.

Because they were in a contest, the teams did not have a radio. The free fall was quiet. While the teams were navigating themselves to the target areas, the Team Yellow took a dare and waited until the last possible second to deploy their parachutes. The added time in the fall allowed them to land first, but not as safely as they wanted. Ripcord landed fine, and Lady Jaye landed hard. She lay on the ground and let the parachute fall on top of her. Ripcord began to gather up his parachute and he called out for Lady Jaye. She did not answer. He called out to her again and thought he heard a muffled cry. He ran to where her form was starting to stir under the tarp.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She said. She giggled as she tore at the parachute, trying to find a way out. "I'm lost!"

Ripcord put his chute down and helped her get out from under the tarp. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again, when he finally saw her face.

She laughed. "I'm fine, really. Don't ever make me jump like that again!"

"Well it bought us some time." He pointed to the teams that were landing and beginning to gather up their chutes. "Let's go."

They ran to the pile of rucksacks that were near the road and dropped their chutes in the box. Ripcord slung a sack over his shoulders and groaned. Lady Jaye picked hers up and did the same.

"Ugh! They're weighted!" She said.

Ripcord tried to adjust the straps to make it more comfortable. "These must be at least 50 pounds. We can handle this."

She adjusted the strap on her sack and they made their way down the road watching for the markers.

Three miles down the road, Lady Jaye felt a tug on her shoulder. She tripped as her rucksack fell off. Ripcord helped her get back up and he noticed that the strap had ripped.

"P-O-S!" Lady Jaye said as she kicked the sack.

"We can fix it, not a problem." He said.

They both sat on the side of the road and tried to tie the two ends of the ripped strap together, but it was a lost cause. As soon as she put it on, it would untie. They were trying to figure out another way when Flint and Shockwave ran past.

"Awww, look at that." Shockwave said.

Flint brought his wrist up to his face and spoke into his com. "Emergency for Team Yellow. Broken strap on rucksack. Need immediate EVAC." He laughed.

"Flint, you're a jerk!" Lady Jaye yelled out to him.

They kept running and Flint responded by giving her the finger over his head.

"Ooohhh! He's gonna regret that."

"Don't worry about it, Lady Jaye." Ripcord said. "You take my sack, I'll carry yours."

"Are you sure?"

"It's going to slow us down, but you're not going to be able to wear it. It's all right we need to get back on the road."

She picked up his sack and put it on and Ripcord slung her sack over his shoulder. The whole mishap did slow them down and before they got back on track Beachhead and Mainframe, who were pacing themselves caught up and passed them.

Event 2

Stalker waited on the side of the road with a makeshift hideout behind him. As each team arrived at the spot, he gave them directions to the next task. Ripcord and Lady Jaye arrived at the second event and got their directions from him.

"Hidden inside one of these two buildings is a box containing a map for the third event."

"It sounds easy enough." Lady Jaye said.

Stalker held his hand up to her. "This hideout is crawling with booby traps meant to slow you down. To the right is a table containing an assortment of weapons to choose from. You can leave your rucksacks here and pick them up upon leaving."

Ripcord looked over at Lady Jaye and smiled. "Paintballs!"

"By the way," Stalker said. "There are only two maps and three teams. I would work fast if I were you."

They walked to the table and dropped their sacks. They looked over the table at which paintball guns they wanted to use. Lady Jaye spied Team Blue's rucksacks. She pulled her team's bags over to the pile and opened them. She found Flint's bag and opened it as well. She ripped open the bag of sand that was the weight from her bags and put handfuls of it into Flint's bag. When she had put a good amount in she closed all of them up. She left all of them together in the pile and went back to the table. She noticed Ripcord looking at her.

"What?" She asked.

"I saw what you did."

"He deserves it. He shouldn't have given me the finger."

"Grab something and let's go." Ripcord told her.

They took two guns a piece and Ripcord pocketed extra cartridges of yellow paintballs. They slowly walked up to the hideout. Through one of the windows, they saw Team Red navigate one of the rooms. Their plan was to take the smaller of the two buildings first, and if nothing was found, they would move to the larger. They also decided to be as loud and obnoxious with the booby traps as possible. If they found the box, they would go to silent mode. There would be no helping any other team in the locations, unless it was Mainframe. He was their friend after all.

Lady Jaye kicked the door to the smaller building open and she was immediately greeted by a pop up target. She let out her best battle cry and pulled the trigger on her handgun. The target was hit with splatters of yellow paint, and then fell to the ground. They stepped on it as they entered the room, the floor creaking as they did. Ripcord slowly advanced into the next room and Lady Jaye covered him. They look in but found nothing, then moved to the left to the next room. The door to the room was locked. Ripcord tried to kick it down but it would not budge. Lady Jaye directed Ripcord back out to the first room.

"If there is a window, we can go through it." She told him.

They walked out and to the backside of the building. There was no window. Ripcord decided to check the larger building where the other teams were. They walked cautiously and Ripcord stepped on a buried mine. It sprayed him with a powdery substance. Lady Jaye looked over at him and he wiped the powder away from his eyes and spit it from his mouth.

"Its just flour. I'll live." He told her. "Keep moving."

As they got closer to the door, they both aimed their guns. Ripcord walked through the door and Lady Jaye followed him. They cased the room and as they took a step further in, two targets popped up along the walls. Lady Jaye took the right side of the room and Ripcord the left. After the targets had been hit, they were reset. Beachhead and Mainframe walked down the stairs. Beachhead did not say a word to Team Yellow, but Mainframe gestured cutting his throat to them. Team Blue walked in to the room as Team Red was leaving the building. As Flint stepped closer to Lady Jaye, the floor creaked under him.

Her eyes met his and as if he were reading her mind, he took a step back. He rocked back and forth on the same spot on the floor. Flint and Lady Jaye both went to the floor and tried to take up the floorboards. They came up easy and as Ripcord saw what Lady Jaye was doing, he began to help. The four tore up as much of the floor as possible, but they found nothing. Shockwave got up and ran up the stairs Ripcord followed him. Lady Jaye looked out the door and saw Team Red walking back to the road with their envelope in hand. Mainframe made eye contact with Lady Jaye as he passed and with his hand at his side gave her the thumbs up. Flint had seen it as well and got up from the floor.

"Oh no you don't." Lady Jaye told him as she grabbed his ankle. He tripped but did not fall. Lady Jaye was almost up off the floor when Flint reached down and pushed her back down. He almost made it to the door before he felt Lady Jaye kick him behind his knees. He fell forward and out the door.

"Ripcord!" Lady Jaye screamed. She scrambled to stand up and began to run after Flint. Once she caught up with him, she jumped on his back in an attempt to slow him down. He fell with her added weight on him. It was at this moment Ripcord and Shockwave ran past them to the house. Flint rolled over, pinning Lady Jaye to the ground and got up. He ran to the house. Lady Jaye being smaller and faster than Flint made to the doorway before him anyway.

"Ha!" She said to him as she bolted through the door.

Ripcord and Shockwave were trying to break down the door to the locked room while Flint and Lady Jaye took the floorboards in the first room. The more they looked the less they found. The spot where Team Red had found their box was exposed. Flint walked hard on the floor to feel for anything different. Lady Jaye tried her best to get under the pop-up target she had shot down earlier without Flint seeing. He walked into the back room and she lifted it up and peeled back the floorboard. Under it was a black box. She lifted it out of the floorboard and stood up. She turned around to the back room to call for Ripcord and her eyes met Flint's, a lopsided smile on his face. He too was holding a box.

"Ha!" He said to her, mocking her tone earlier. "On the count of three. One…two…three."

They opened the boxes and the smile left Flint's face. Ripcord walked to Jaye's side and looked in the box. Team Yellow had the last map. Lady Jaye dropped the now empty box on the floor and turned to the door.

"Flint," She said. "I hear winning isn't everything."  
Ripcord chuckled. "But losing sucks."

They walked out of the door and left Team Blue inside.

Ripcord and Lady Jaye gave each other a high five as they got back to the staging area where their bags were kept. Jaye put her sack on her back, Ripcord slung his on to his shoulder, and they started back down the road.

**Event Three and Four**

There was no one to greet them at the beginning of the third event. The teams followed the markers on the road until it took them to an entrance to a trail. Hawk and Duke were waiting for them before they could enter the wooded area. Hawk had a look of indifference on his face and Duke looked mad. In the back of the jeep they had used to get to the spot was a scale. Duke held his hand up, telling them to stop.

"Drop the bags." He said.

Team Yellow did as they were told. Duke pulled Lady Jaye's bag off the road and put it on the scale. Hawk recorded the weight, and then Duke weighed Ripcord's bag.

"It has come to our attention that there has been an incident of cheating at the last event." Hawk said. "We have weighed every bag, and the two of yours have come up considerably lighter than what they were originally filled at, and defiantly lighter than Flint's.

Lady Jaye did her best not to laugh aloud.

"You should be disqualified." Duke told them. "But Hawk seems to be a good mood today. You're to be penalized one minute for every pound of sand missing from your bags."

"How long will that be?" Ripcord asked.

Hawk looked down at his papers. "Twenty minutes." He paused before he continued. "What would possess you to do something like this?"

"Flint was being a jerk. He needed to be taught a lesson." Lady Jaye told him.

Hawk laughed at her boldness. "How about this, you leave the lesson teaching to me. Event three is an overnight march in a wooded area. You will be supplied with all the essential items needed. At the completion of this march you will signal your pick up."

Duke and Hawk got back in the jeep. Duke started the engine and Ripcord asked him if Flint had been relieved of his bag. Duke told Ripcord no. Lady Jaye sat on the ground to begin her twenty-minute wait with a smile on her face.

The time delay allowed Team Yellow to study their map. When it was finally time to enter the woods they knew exactly where they were going. Team Blue had entered while they were waiting and did not say a word to them. Ripcord and Lady Jaye walked happily along the sparsely marked trail. The sun was shining through the treetops and small animals would rustle the foliage.

Ripcord thought he saw a flash of light come from his right side. He tugged on Lady Jaye's sleeve and pointed. She too saw it but thought it was just sunlight hitting litter someone had left on the trail. They walked further into the woods and stopped to check their coordinates on the map. Another flash of light caught Lady Jaye's eye. She stopped listening to Ripcord explain where they were on the map and concentrated on the flash. Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot. Someone was flashing Morse code. She walked away from Ripcord, closer to the light. Ripcord put the map back into his pocket.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

She held her finger to her mouth and took a step closer. She held her hand up to him signaling him to stop.

"Watch." She pointed in the direction of the light.

Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.

"SOS." Ripcord whispered. "Let's go." He walked along side her until they stood at the edge of a steep ravine.

Lady Jaye looked down, almost falling herself on the edge that was unsteady. Beachhead stood at the bottom holding a mirror. He was using it to reflect the sun's ray for his distress signal.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"We had a mishap. Mainframe fell off the edge."

"Is he okay?"

Beachhead looked down at Mainframe who was lying on the ground. "No. I think his ankle is shot"

"We're on our way down!" Lady Jaye did not bother looking in her pack for a rope; she started walking down the side of the ravine. Ripcord followed her, he too almost loosing his balance on the loose dirt. When they got to the bottom of the ravine, she immediately went to Mainframe's side, comforting him.

Ripcord set his pack down next to Beachhead. "How the hell did he fall?"

"The damn ground just gave way. I signaled to the Blue team, they should have seen it."  
Lady Jaye turned around. "And they didn't stop?"

"No."

"Damn them! Stick a fork in Flint, he's done."

"Don't get all riled up, Lady Jaye." Ripcord said. "It's not worth it. We need to get out of here."

Beachhead called Lady Jaye over to where they were standing. "How are your first aid skills?"

"Well, I didn't go to med school, but I'm pretty handy with band-aids."

"See if you can stabilize his foot. I'll see about getting us back up top."

Ripcord and Beachhead were busy fasting ropes together and making a harness to help Mainframe up the side. Lady Jaye dug through her pack and found a roll of gauze and tape.

"Hi, my name is Lady Jaye and I'll be your nurse today." She said joking with Mainframe to calm him down. She could tell by the look on his face that he was in a lot of pain.

"You wouldn't happen to have a shot of anything on you, would you?" He asked putting himself into a sitting position.

She patted her side pockets and smiled. "Sorry I'm all out."

She loosened the top laces on his boot and gently slid the bottom of his pant leg out. He inhaled sharply as she did. She pulled the pant lag halfway to his knee and saw the complete lower half of his leg was beginning to swell and turn purple.  
"I'm not a doctor or anything, but Honey, your leg is broken."

Mainframe lay back down on the ground. "Great. Beachhead is gonna kill me."  
"No, he is not! He's actually concerned about you right now. I'm going to find something to use for a splint."

She walked back to Beachhead and Ripcord. "Bad news, gents. His leg is broken."

Beachhead did not stop what he was doing and he did not look in her direction. "Don't say that."

"I just did."

"There is no way he's going to be hauled up this ravine." Ripcord said.

Beachhead sighed and dropped his rope. "You're right. I'll call in for extraction."

"No you won't!" Mainframe yelled from a few feet away. "Just let me rest. I want to finish."

Beachhead walked over to where he was laying. "Did you get dirt in your ears on the way down here? You can't walk on a broken leg."

Mainframe pushed himself into a sitting position again. "Look Beachhead, I want to do this. I want to prove to you…"

"Prove what?"

"Nothing." Mainframe shook his head.

Lady Jaye walked over to them. "Why don't we make camp here and get some rest. We both have maps. We should be able to find a short cut."

The four made camp at the bottom of the ravine. Ripcord was taking his t-shirt down to the small creek that ran next to them to use as a cold compress on Mainframe's leg. Lady Jaye and Beachhead were sitting in front of a small fire. He was finishing consolidating his and Mainframe's packs. Lady Jaye had done the same with her team's bags as well.

"You know, in a best ranger competition, you would get penalized for this." Beachhead told her.

"I know. I watched it last year."

"You were there?"

"No." She laughed. "I saw it on TV. In this competition, you get penalized for other things."

"Like what?"

"Like putting twenty pounds of sand in Flint's bag."

He grinned at her. "That explains why they made it here before you."

She laughed, and then grew quiet. She looked into the fire.

"You guys can hit the trail. You don't have to wait. I don't care what he says, I'm calling for an extraction."  
"We're staying." Lady Jaye told him. "If it was any team we would stay. At this point I don't care about winning."

Beachhead laughed. "What? Are we going to merge into one team?"

"Yeah!" She said excitedly. "Red and yellow make…orange! We're now Team Orange!"

Ripcord joined them at the fire. "He's asleep."

Beachhead took out his map. "The next event is a line drop into the lake. Swim to shore, then a 3- mile run to the finish line."

Ripcord looked at him and dropped his jaw, and Lady Jaye started to laugh.

"You dirty bastard! You knew every event?" Ripcord asked.

"Not all of them." Beachhead laid his map down for the other two to see. "You signal your pick up here." He pointed to a spot on the map. "It's a helo pick up. It will take you to the middle of this lake. You do the line drop, swim the rest, run to the finish."

"Mainframe can't do a line drop." Ripcord said.

"Exactly." Beachhead pulled his arms up over his head and leaned back against his bag. "That is why I'm going to call in the extraction."

Lady Jaye picked up the map and took a closer look. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small flashlight. Beachhead watched her study the map with a smile on his face.

"What are you up to Lady Jaye?" He asked.

"This is the lake near the pit. There are boats kept on shore." She paused. "They are not in the best shape, but they _are_ boats."

"How do you know this?" Ripcord asked her.

"Trust me."

Ripcord rolled his eyes and lay down on the ground.

Lady Jaye looked up from the map at her two teammates. "Beachhead, you and I can swim across the lake, and bring one of the boats back. We can load up the gear and Mainframe and row ourselves to the final event. That way he doesn't need to do the line drop, and you don't have to forfeit."

"The lake is too long. We can't swim across it." Beachhead told her.

"No, you're wrong." She got up from her spot on the opposite side of the small fire and sat next to Beachhead. She turned on her flashlight and pointed it at the map. "This map is wrong. The lake is long, yes, but we are on this side. It's not that wide."

"Why would we get a map with the lake going in the wrong direction?" Ripcord asked. He paused and answered his own question. "To throw us off."

Lady Jaye took her flashlight and pointed to the creek. "This creek feeds into the side of the lake. We can walk along it to get to it."

Beachhead did not respond to her.

"Who made you team captain, Lady Jaye?" Ripcord tossed a handful of dirt at her.

"I did!" She responded. "You can rest for a few minutes, but we need to get moving soon."

The walk along the creek was slow going. The ground was rough and Beachhead and Ripcord took turns carrying Mainframe while Lady Jaye carried both teams' packs. She led the way, with the map in her hand. Just as she had said, the creek opened up to the lake. Beachhead made Mainframe as comfortable as possible on the shore and Ripcord stayed with him. As the sun began to rise, Lady Jaye and Beachhead made their way into the water and began the swim across the lake. When they reached the other side, they began to walk along the shore looking for the boats. Beachhead was growing increasingly upset when they had been walking for ten minutes and there were no boats in sight. Lady Jaye finally found them. They were away from the shore and were stacked up next to a hiking trail. Beachhead found the sturdiest of the bunch and they pulled it in to the water.

Halfway across the lake, they heard the sounds of a helicopter approach. The helicopter hovered just above them and Team Blue prepared for their line drop. Lady Jaye and Beachhead rowed the boat away from them as fast as they could. Shockwave hit the water first, and began to swim to shore. Flint hit the water and instead of swimming to the shore, he made his way to the boat.

"Hey! What the hell?" He said.

"Go away Flint." Lady Jaye told him.

"Are both of your teams cheating? Jesus!"

"As a matter of fact Flint, we're not. We have an injury." Beachhead said.

"Call for extraction then. Don't cheat."

Lady Jaye pulled her ore out of the water. "Get away from this boat before you get hit."

Flint began to swim away from the boat. "Cheaters equals losers!"

"Get out of here Flint!" Lady Jaye snapped.

Beachhead started to row again and Lady Jaye put her ore back into the water. They made it back to shore where Ripcord had their packs ready to go. He put them in the back of the boat, and with the help of Beachhead the lifted Mainframe into it. He sat in the back using the packs for cushioning. Lady Jaye sat in the front, and the two men took the middle. They made their way across the long lake to where the fifth and final event would take place.

**Event Five**

"Yo Orange!" Lady Jaye yelled when the boat got to the shore. She looked back at the rest of the team who were not in the mood for a joke. "Come on guys. That was supposed to be funny."

"I think my arms are going to completely come off." Ripcord said as he got out of the boat and helped to pull it ashore. Beachhead helped Mainframe out of the boat and sat him on the ground. He looked over Mainframe's splint and re-bandaged it.

Lady Jaye looked down the road and saw that the route had been marked. She turned back to her team. "Ripcord? What is something you really want?"

"A long hot shower. Why?" He answered.

"Mainframe? What do you really want?" She asked him.

He winced as Beachhead pulled on the bandages of his splint. "Pain meds."

"Beachhead, it's your turn." She said. "What is something you really want?"

He did not answer her.

"I'm waiting…" She said.

"I want to knock Flint out for calling me a cheater."

"Well, all of that is waiting for you at the finish line. Let's go!" She picked up the packs and waited for Ripcord and Beachhead to pick up Mainframe and they started down the road. They alternated between walking and jogging. There was less than one mile to go and Beachhead slowed down. He called for Lady Jaye who was in front of him.

"Give me my pack." He told her.

"Why?"

"I want you and Ripcord to go ahead."  
"No way." Ripcord said. "We made it this far together, we're going to finish."

"Beachhead, I already told you I don't care about winning. Ripcord doesn't either." Lady Jaye set his pack on the ground. "The only important thing right now is getting Mainframe across that finish line. As goofy as the three of us may act on this type of maneuver, the only thing that matters is the welfare of each other. That outweighs the objective of any mission. We cannot compete on any level if we leave one of our own behind. Ripcord and I are not going to go ahead of you. The four of us will cross that finish line, together."

"Lady Jaye," Beachhead began. "I don't know if I should make you drop and give me fifty, or hug you."

"We give you so much grief, the three of us. I just thought it was time you saw how well we really do…work." She told him.

"To prove to you we can." Mainframe said.

"Fine. You proved yourselves. You never had to. Let's get to the finish line."

The closer they got to the finish they were met with cheers from other Joes who did not compete. When the onlookers noticed that the last two teams were working together, they received even more cheers and whistles. Standing at the finish line were Flint and Shockwave. The four Joes who had formed Team Orange paused before crossing the finish line so they could all step over it at the same time. A medical team tended to Mainframe immediately. Lady Jaye dropped the packs, walked over to Ripcord, and pulled him into a big hug. They shook hands with Beachhead and Duke, Stalker and Hawk greeted the three. Flint made his way in and put his arm around Lady Jaye.

"Care to congratulate the winner?" He asked.

She looked up at him. "Flint, we are the _real_ winners. Maybe you should congratulate us?"

He shrugged. "Maybe later." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and started to walk away from her.

Beachhead walked over to Lady Jaye and Ripcord. "I'm gonna head over to the infirmary with Mainframe. Are you going to stop by?"

Lady Jaye looked over at Ripcord and shrugged. "Well, we're a team aren't we?"

The three got into a waiting jeep and rode back to the pit, together.


End file.
